No one said being a leader was going to be easy. Leaders must manage the day-to-day tasks of their job, ensure timelines and budgets are met, manage and motivate their teams, "manage up" to their leader, navigate politics, keep up with industry trends and technology and much more.
Staying Focused Can Be Really, Really Hard
For all of these reasons, leaders can benefit from a tool that keeps them focused on what really matters professional and personally. This is where a dashboard can help.
The Leader’s Dashboard is a simple one-page tool that summarizes the most important things on the leader’s plate. This simple, concise tool was developed by the Center for Executive Coaching and is used by consultants and coaches in over 32 countries. While simple, it is not simplistic. The tool's power lies in the clarity it drives.
The Leadership Dashboard we use at Bright Blue includes a succinct summary of the leader's:
Vision
Purpose and Mission
Values
Strategic edge
Top 3 initiatives
Key performance indicators to track success.
Relationships (required for leader and organziation's success)
Top strategies to build organizational capacity
Few leaders take time to place all of this information in one location. However, once they create the Dashboard, they can revisit the information frequently to ensure they remain on target.
Identify Gaps. Revisit Frequently.
The second part of the Leader Dashboard is to compare the leader's information with the relevant information for the organization as a whole. By comparing the leader's answers with the organization's information, gaps are identified and can then be managed.
Leaders commit to reviewing their Dashboard every month and evaluate how they are spending their time. If a leader begins to notice that he or she is veering from the set initiatives and KPIs, the leader can adjust.
Really want to be an overachiever? Another powerful task is to take the same tool and have everyone on the leadership team can create their own dashboard. Again, gaps in alignment across the organization can quickly be noted.
The process is extraordinary because it is so simple, practical and powerful. With a little bit of facilitation and coaching, each member of the organization gets clarity about what really counts.
For more information about the Leader’s Dashboard, contact us at info@ConsultBrightBlue.com. And, to check in on the health of your organization, download our free organization alignment and accountability self-assessment, click here.